What follows is our official exit interview with Merritt Bankes, who just recently left Ypsilanti, headed for Tecumseh. MARK: Can you please state your full name for the record? MERRITT: Merritt Bankes. MARK: OK, let’s start at the beginning… What kind of kid were you? MERRITT: Feral! A free-range chicken! [Laughs.] I didn’t even wear […]
Tag Archives: substance abuse
Ypsi/Arbor Exit Interview: Merritt Bankes
Posted in Michigan, Special Projects, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti Also tagged Argus Farm Stop, art school, Chicago, Columbia College, Diet for a New America, drugs, Elbow Room, EMU, environmental activism, environmental protection, exit interviews, feral child, Green Room, Janet Kaufman, John Robbins, loneliness, Merritt Bankes, music, onions, poaching, porch shows, porches, priorities, self harm, Sustainability, Tecumseh, Tom Waits, vegetarianism, We The People Growers Association, Woodruff's, Ypsi/Arbor Exit Interviews 4 Comments
Melvin Parson and the campaign to create a world-class urban farm in Ypsilanti
Melvin Parson and I have been working off an on for the past two years on an interview for this site. It began as an Ypsilanti Immigration Interview, and, over time, as we dug deeper into his work with We The People Growers Association, evolved into something more about his dream of establishing a world-class […]
Posted in Agriculture, Ann Arbor, Detroit, entrepreneurism, Environment, Food, Sustainability, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti Also tagged 13th, addiction, Ann Arbor, Avalon Housing, Black Beauty, community gardens, culinary arts, Dawn Farm, Detroit, Doug Coombe, drugs, Edible Avalon, Emanuel Tyus, food hub, fundraising, Great Migration, Henry Ford, Henry Ford Museum, heroin, inequality, Kerrytown, Kerrytown Farmers Market, local food, local food production, matching grants, Melvin Parson, Michigan Department of Corrections, Parkridge Homes, Port Huron, prison industry, prison reform, Shaka Senghor, social justice, St. Joseph Mercy, the hiring on ex-fellons, urban farming, Washtenaw County Jail, We The People Growers Association, We The People Opportunity Center, white flight, Wizard of Oz, YCS, Ypsi immigration interview, Ypsilanti Community Schools 9 Comments
Increasing options for our neighbors without either heat or shelter
On Saturday I posted something here about the plight of the homeless during this week’s polar vortex, which, as I understand it, has brought temperatures near levels not experienced in the region since the 1880s. My intention had been to share a comprehensive list of resources available to those in our community who were without […]
Posted in Ann Arbor, Health, Uncategorized Also tagged Alpha House, Ann Arbor Chronicle, Ann Arbor City Council, Civil War, Cold, Community Support and Treatment Services, CSTS, Dave Askins, Delonis Center, First Presbyterian Church, Greg Pratt, HAWC, heat, homeless, homeless encampments, homelessness, Hope Clinic, Housing Access for Washtenaw County, Interfaith Hospitality Network, Mary Jo Callan, mental illness, Mission A2, New Vision’s Engagement Center, Office of Economic and Community Development, Ozone House, philanthropy, polar vortex, PORT, Project Outreach Team, public health, public health emergency, Salvation Army, SOS Community Services, Staples Center, Steve Powers 20 Comments